Guild Wars 2 community update: play with us!

Guild Wars 2 early access commences tomorrow morning at 8am GMT. For the last week, ArenaNet have been running regular stress tests in the hope of beating the odds and giving the game the painless launch that evades most major online games.

We've been making our own preparations. The PC Gamer Guild Wars community has been getting ready to make the transition from the first game for years. We've got new leadership, a new guild - PC Gamer [PCG] - and a new, community-run website: PCGGW.com .

The official European PC Gamer Guild Wars presence will be on Gunnar's Hold EU. We've moved from Desolation - our beta home - because it's likely to be overloaded on launch.

Guild Leader Realo Foxtrot is also involved in The Initiative, a cross-guild effort to encourage a mature and fun atmosphere across Guild Wars 2.

"When I took over the guild leadership I got in contact with Rock Paper Signet and their leader invited me to the discussions that were going on in secret" Realo says. "The main goals of the Initiative are to create a mature community with like-minded guilds."

The Initiative currently has 29 member guilds, including PCG and RPS. In a strange coincidence for this PCG staffer, it also includes my old World of Warcraft guild - Ancient Shadows.

The first EU PCG event will take place on Saturday September 1st, one week after launch. We'll be meeting up in Lion's Arch to jump off the diving board, celebrating seven days of Guild Wars by throwing ourselves into the sea. It's a sign of things to come.

Initiative members will also be present on Yak's Bend NA. North American guild members reported very little lag while connecting to Gunnar's Hold during the beta, however, and if that trend continues into launch then our transatlantic brethren are more than welcome to join the EU server. If a separate American guild does spring up after launch, we'll run a new story explaining how to join. Otherwise, [PCG] should be treated as the international guild for the time being.

If you're in North America and/or into roleplay, elements of the PC Gamer US crew (including T.J., former Associate Editor Josh Augustine, and former intern Gavin "GTowns" Townsley) will be rolling on Tarnished Coast, the unofficial North American RP server. We'd like to get a guild together, but obviously haven't put as much time and planning into it. It's likely to be a semi-casual affair, so email TJ@pcgamer.com if you'd like to be involved!